Halfway Through Our Stay In Iowa

Monday July 22- Today Seth and Katie are coming home. So Hailey and I are going to get some birthday decorations to surprise Seth when he comes home. So we went early, then decorated the kitchen. Hailey had lots of good ideas and we got busy. Her parents got home around 11 a.m. She was excited to yell SURPRISE!!!

After the kids got home we packed up all my stuff and headed home. I had to see my doggies. I also had lots of stuff to put away. Then there was my hummingbird feeders. They were all empty. Not like I made too many hummingbirds mad they haven't been coming around that much. I'm not sure what happened. The rest of the night I just relaxed.

Tuesday July 23- Jeff and I decided to take a road trip to Coralville today. There is a branch of our bank located there. We received a check from Norcold and wanted to cash it. Usually I do it over my phone but when the bank changed names there was a lot of trouble with everything. I was afraid even to try it. After cashing the check we went to the mall and looked around then had lunch. We were going to go to a grocery store called Lucky's. When I looked up the address to see the best way to get there I see they are closed. So that was a bust. We stopped at another store before heading home. To finish off the night we took a short bike ride with Ruby. She loves going for bike rides in her basket.

Wednesday July 24- Busy day today. I started off with a haircut for Belle. As usual I waited to long between haircuts. She does pretty good for me but I'm not a professional groomer, so I'm not very quick.

Since I was in the cutting mode I went ahead and gave Jeff a haircut and finally me. No before or after pictures for those. I took a bit of a break and defrosted the freezer.  Another job I don't care for. I sure wish they had a frost free RV frig. Well they do but its a residential frig. That would require a lot of extra working so I'll be content with what I have.  I have some friends coming up and meeting us for lunch on Saturday so I called to figure out that. Then when our son Justin got home from work we went to his house to see Miss Maddyn. She was outside so we sat out there with her. She is all about bubbles, so bubble blowing was what we did.

She is still improving her bubble blowing skills. We had fun watching her play outside. She is at such a fun age. Very entertaining.


Thursday July 25- A big Happy Birthday to our oldest son Seth....he's 40 today. I had to sing him Happy Birthday first thing...tradition. We are going to celebrate with lunch tomorrow.
Jeff did some washing of vehicles before it got too hot. He also got up on the roof of the rig and cleaned it off. I did some quilting on the baby quilt that I'm making for a gift. I ended up doing quite a lot of quilting because I was home tonight while Jeff went to play guitar. I hadn't planned on finishing it but I got so close I just kept at it. My fingers are really sore.


Friday July 26- Started off the day by really cleaning the shower house. I'm going to be gone for a week and wanted to leave a clean shower house to start. Then I got out fabric to cut for the binding. I had to press it, pin it. and machine sew it on. Then I started the last thing, hand stitching it down. I got a good start on that but had to stop. We went in to pick up the kids and meet Seth for lunch. When we arrived Seth was already there. We got a table and ordered us up quite the birthday lunch. Our food was good and everyone had a great time. Happy Birthday!!

When I got home from Florida this year I went through pictures of Seth growing up to share on Facebook. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Seth wasn't even 1 here

Trying to catch a fish...so serious.

When we got home from lunch I grabbed the quilt and worked on the binding until I finished 3 sides. We are heading back in to Cedar Rapids to Uptown Friday Nights. We haven't attended one of these this year. Janey Rocket and The Strays are playing. It costs $5.00 to get in. They have beverages and pizza stuff. We liked the music but they didn't really have the sound dialed in. What bothered me about this place is...it seems like everyone there wasn't even paying attention to the bands. They were all over by the beer drinking visiting. We prefer Rock The Block..it's just more family friendly.

We headed home and I grabbed the quilt. I only had one more side to sew. Well I got it finished and I had all kinds of time left. I just have to get it wrapped and delivered.

the back

the front

Saturday July 27-I cleaned my shower house and then finished packing all the stuff I'm taking to the kids house. I am staying with Ashton and Hailey for a week while Seth and Katie take a trip to Turks and Caicos. The are going to celebrate Seth's birthday. Well they are leaving today to drive to Chicago. Before I head over there Jeff and I are meeting Matt, Teri and Isaac for a early lunch at Zeppelins. We got there at 11 and opened the place up. We had a nice lunch and did some visiting. They had to go take a test.

 We came back home grabbed my stuff and went back into the kids. The first thing we did was make a grocery list and attack that. It was a stupid time to do that but we just foraged ahead. I received a call Teri, her van wouldn't start. So Jeff went over and gave her a jump. Then he got back and we loaded up the kids and went to Lisbon. It is a little town not far from here. Wellstrung is playing from 5-7 tonight. We took Ashton and Hailey and Molly and Maddyn was there. Hailey loves playing with Maddyn. It was a good thing we brought a lot of people because there wasn't hardly anyone there. Wellstrung was even the 2nd band. We had a good time and the girls really had fun.

After they got done playing we stayed a little to hear the last band. It was really loud so we kicked it on out of there and headed back. Jeff dropped us off and he went back to the rig.


Sunday July 28- I got up and made breakfast for the kids before church. We met Jeff at the church. After church we went to breakfast at Perkins....well brunch that was breakfast. You can't have too many breakfasts. The place was busy but we arrived before the big crowd showed up. It was a bit slow.

After eating we came home and I started the laundry. While waiting for the laundry I did some yard work outside. I can't stand being cooped up inside. Justin, Molly and Maddyn stopped by and picked up some veggies. Katie has a guy that brings fresh produce to her door once a week. So we shared what was here. Hailey and Maddyn got on the trampoline. Hailey has a hard time keeping her hands off of Maddyn. Maddyn is getting pretty independant so she doesn't like being handled all the time.

Monday July 29- Got up early because the dogs are on a schedule that includes waking up early. I made up some sausage and eggs for breakfast burritos. Then Jeff came in and we drove to play putt putt. We had perfect weather and it was a great time with just a little arguing. It's hard to find things to do with the kids together. They are getting older and have different likes. This however was fun for all.

lets play

Grammy wins!!

What was unique about this game....I won. I never win at putt putt. We came back to the house. Jeff back to the park to tend to the dogs. When I got back I worked some more in the yard. I also did some laundry. Then I went ahead and made up tenderloins for supper. I had way too many so Justin stopped by and picked some up for there supper tomorrow. Jeff came back and ate with us. Then he and I went down to the McGrath Amphitheater to listen to Peter Frampton. Never have seen him and this is his farewell tour. It was an outside concert so we waited to make sure the weather was good. It was really good. It wasn't hot and there was a nice breeze. It was wonderful. Then my neighbors showed up. They couldn't stay in there seats, the screamed the songs they knew and when Peter Frampton was talking they were as well. It was super annoying. Some people even told them to be quiet. Oh when they were yelling....horrible words. The concert was good the neighbors...not.

Tuesday July 30- It's movie day. We have been promising Hailey that we would take her to see The Lion King. We haven't been able to yet, so today was the day. Ashton already saw it with friends. We left him sleeping. We went to the 10 a.m. show and on the big screen. We even had heated seats.

 After the movie Hailey and I made one stop before coming home. We went to JoAnns. I needed to get a gift box to put the baby quilt in. We also got some fabric so Hailey could do some sewing. We are going to do that when she comes out to the rig and stays. We will see if that is something she likes. We stayed home the rest of the day. Making tacos for supper. There parents have called and kept us up on their adventures.


Wednesday July 31- Stay home day. I made pancakes for breakfast. Hailey loved them, Ashton slept through breakfast. Went back outside and did some more weeding. The kids even helped a little. We managed to fill up the yard waste garbage can. It looks really good. Made supper for the kids. Then we just hung around here.



Thursday August 1- A new month. Didn't want to hang around here all day. Trying to think of things to do with both kids outside. We went out to see Papa at the campground. It's a beauty of a day. When we arrived we gathered up the stuff we needed to go back to the lake. We took the truck with the kayaks on top. When we arrived then we had to bring all the stuff to the water. We haven't had the boats out much so we had to do some adjusting. Ashton took mine out so we had to do extra adjusting for him. Before getting into the water Hailey and Ashton were hunting frogs. There were plenty to be found but they liked hiding in the rocks.

They caught more than one. I still can't get over that Hailey likes doing that. She also was wading in the water trying to catch little fish. Not so successful in that area. Then Papa and Ashton took the kayaks out. Ashton took a fishing pole with him. Jeff hasn't purchased an Iowa fishing license this year. Hailey and I stayed back with Miss Ruby, she continued her fishing for fish with a net. As I was watching her I spotted a snake swimming on top of the water. I yelled SNAKE!!!! Boy you should have seen Hailey exit the water lickity split... kind of funny. I should add the snake was never close to her.

The guys stayed a while, not too long. They raced on the way back and Ashton was winning until Papa grabbed his boat and flipped him around and took off. Ashton needs to work on his strategy skills. When racing with Marlins you have to be prepared at all times for foul play......

We loaded up all the stuff, back to the campground, unloaded and fixed some lunch. Then we headed back in to town. We had a easy supper because Hailey has gymnastics tonight.


Friday August 2- Today is my last day staying here. There other grandma is coming over tonight to take over. She will stay the weekend because Judy is coming up to stay with us this weekend. I wanted to get all the laundry done before I took off. Today I did that and some cleaning up. Marilyn showed up around 5:30 and we left. Before heading back we went to Union Station...(its a bar) to listen to our son Justin. We only caught the end of it.

We couldn't stay to listen to the other band too long because we wanted to beat Judy to the campground. We stopped and got a sandwich to go. When we arrived home she pulled in right after we did. I had a lot of stuff that I needed to put away. I tried to do that while visiting with her.


Saturday August 3- Even after staying up late and visiting we were up early to get ready and go to the farmers market downtown. The last time I went it was so hot, this weekend it was so much better. It is summer so it was warm but so doable. It was a busy place for sure. We met up with Justin,Molly and Maddyn there.

After making a few purchases we left there and made a few stops before getting back. First we went to Sam's. I was looking for my favorite sausage, that they said online they have, but didn't. We always have fun in Sam's. We found the perfect tool to take Judy to the farmers market next time......

We got home and had some lunch. Then Judy and I sat outside and got caught up on our lives. We do talk on the phone weekly but its not like being together. We have been friends for years. We hung around the campground the rest of the day. We fixed supper and watched a movie. Nice relaxing day.

Sunday August 4- Today we got ready for church. We love our church here. Look forward to Sunday's. Then we came home and I made us a brunch. We ate, cleaned up that and sat outside, Before I knew it, it was time for Judy to take off for home. I did some cleaning up and then we went in to take over for Marilyn. Seth and Katie won't be home until later. She doesn't like to drive in the dark. We went at supper time. Then we took the kids out for dinner. We went back to there house and waited for there parents. I know the kids were ready for there parents to get back, the dogs were ready as well. They made it safely home around 9:30....everyone was safe and happy. Time for us to get home and back to our normal days...until next time....

Smokin Hot

Monday July 8- Had to get up early today. I got my cleaning done and laundry packed up to take to Justin's house. I'm Maddyn's daycare today. I left here at 6:15 so Justin could be on time to work. We, Maddyn and I had a busy day. We read books, built with blocks, watched some videos. We have a new song we like to sing along with. We had lunch and Maddyn took a short nap. She wasn't going back to sleep. Justin got home and before heading back I stopped by to pick up Hailey to bring her home. When we got home she helped Papa make up tenderloins for supper. I got a text today from the park ranger telling me that the big boat ramp has been closed starting today. They are tearing up the big parking lot to redo it. That is going to make a lot of people happy...not. With the lake finally full the boat traffic has really picked up. There is another boat ramp but it's smaller and usually not used as much. Then the county has decided to tear up the road that comes in to the park. It wasn't horrible before but now it qualifies as horrible. Who knows when that will get fixed.


Tuesday July 9- After cleaning with some help I made pancakes for breakfast. Then Hailey and I decided to go to the beach before everyone else shows up. Papa dropped us off at the beach and he went in to town to go to a movie. I usually put my floating bean bag chair in the backseat on the way to the beach. Since Hailey was in the backseat we put it on the roof.  Since it was dry it kept falling off the roof. So poor Sis had to share the backseat with that massive chair.

When we arrived at the beach there was hardly anybody there. We set up our stuff then went hunting for frogs. Hailey's idea, not mine. I'm not a big fan of frogs but for some reason she really seems to like them. We probably caught around 5 of them. We didn't keep them but it was fun to catch them. 

We probably stayed longer than we wanted but we had to wait for Papa to get back and get us. While we were waiting Sis thought she would give Papa a call.

We made our way home and fixed some lunch. We hung around the campground til time to take Hailey in to gymnastics. We dropped her off and went to get supper at Cancun. It was pretty good.

After dinner we stopped back to watch Hailey do some of her tricks. Then we left and headed back home.

Wednesday July 10- Did some cleaning today, at the shower house and here in our house. Then it was bath day for Miss Ruby. Well you have to blow dry her so that takes a while. She looks so pretty and fluffy. We took off for town. Needed to get some errands done. First the dreaded Walmart, then a few other shops. We had lunch at Firehouse Subs. Then came back home. We had one more thing on the schedule.....going in to see Miss Maddyn. We played with her and Justin and Jeff played there guitars.

Thursday July 11- Today we stayed in the park. I did a couple loads of laundry here. It was really nice this morning. I got to sit outside. While I was out there I made a couple phone calls. It was so nice I decided to go to the beach for a bit.It was pretty quiet down there...

After the beach I came back home. The campground is full again this week, but we still have people showing up looking for sites. After supper Jeff took off for Palo to jam. I stayed home and I finished up quilting the last row on my quilt. I just have to quilt the border and bind it. I'm excited to get this one finished.

Friday July 12- Woke up this morning not feeling that well. I think I'm getting a cold.I set outside this morning before it got too hot. Didn't do much of anything today. We decided to go to Rock The Block tonight. We weren't sure how long we would stay because it was really warm today. That's what we like about going down there you can get some shade. We found us a shady spot and sat up our chairs. We even had a nice breeze. It turned out to be a beautiful night. The band was Funk Stop and there was a big crowd. It was a nice evening.

We made our way home and watched as the sky just got prettier and prettier. By the time we got to the park it was beautiful. We were greeted with this.....wow.

Saturday July 13- Pretty chill day, well not weather wise. It is really hot out there. Then it clouded up and looked like rain but it never did rain. Then the sun came back out which made it hotter yet. I stayed in with the air conditioning. I did lots of quilting, almost got 3 sides of the border quilted.

Sunday July 14- It was hot out there when I woke up at 6 a.m. We had to go to church early to greet. It's Baptism and BBQ day. After church we came home. I got busy quilting and we watched a couple movies. We left to go to the Baptism's and BBQ. It was a scorcher out there. It was in the mid 90's and to top it off it was super humid. There was a big turnout even with the heat. So they started off with the baptism's. Followed by a big buffet of lots of food. It was really warm but a wonderful time.

Monday July 15- Today we are going in to get Ashton. We are taking him to breakfast. He wants to take us to visit his favorite store...VICE. We left our rig heading in to Cedar Rapids. As we drove by the lake I noticed our white pelicans are back. They show up every year.

 When we arrived he was ready to go. We drove down to Village Inn for breakfast. It used to be a really great place for breakfast. Well since the last time we have been there it has definitely gone downhill. We won't be going back there again. On a positive note our company was wonderful.

We made a few stops and then when we went to his store we had a big disappointment. They are closed on Monday and Ashton had forgot. We will come back another time. Before we headed home we made one more stop at Trader Joe's. We got what we had on our list and made our way back home. We dropped off Ashton at home and we came back to the campground. It was super hot today. I stayed in and worked on the border. I finished binding my quilt around 9:00 o'clock. Now I can get busy on my next project.

Tuesday July 16- I had to take a picture of the finished project. Now I got started marking this baby quilt I have got all pinned together. I'm not going to start quilting it today because my fingers are so sore. Gonna give them a day off. It is really a hot one...again. I went to the beach, well I went to the lake. It was way to hot to sit on the beach. I took my floating bean bag chair in the water. It was just right in there. It was nice while you were in the water but that sand would burn your feet. Came home and cleaned up. We are going to town to get Jeff's ear buds, he needs them for Sunday. He will be playing with the worship band for the first time. After we picked them up we went to the church for a dinner for the welcome team at church. We had a wonderful dinner. They even gave out prizes. I actually won something!...as we were leaving it started raining and we drove through quite the down pour.

Wednesday July 17- Today was stay home day. I got started quilting and made a lot of progress. I wasn't sure I could get it done by October but now I know I will get it finished in plenty of time. We had some scary weather roll in. We got a lot of wind at the beginning and it was followed by quite a lot of rain.

Thursday July 18- I cleaned around here today. I also packed for my weekend away. I'm going in and staying with Hailey while her parents are away for the weekend. I also did some quilting but my fingers are still sore so I'm slowing down a bit. Jeff went to town to practice with Josh. They are working on the worship music for Sunday. Then he went to Palo to jam there as well. It was a super hot day with plenty of humidity...it is unbearable to be outside in the heat.

Friday July 19- I cleaned my shower house early to save Jeff from having to clean it today. He will be covering for me this weekend. I got over to the kids house by 8:30. Jeff took me there, the kids are leaving me one of there cars to drive. We took Hailey to breakfast first then back. Jeff then took off for home and I stayed. I had a list of things to do. I brought my laundry, so I got started on that. Then we went out and cleaned Hailey's frog aquarium. Then we got busy on the kids rooms. Ashton wasn't there so he made out like a bandit. Hailey did most of her room herself. Well after cleaning them we had lots more laundry to do. We took a break and ran to the store to get our stuff for the weekend. Then we came home and did more laundry. Lots of laundry. Then we watched TV. They have weird tv to me. It is all netflix, apple tv, stuff I don't get. You can't get any over the air tv... oh well...technology.

Saturday July 20- Well didn't sleep that well because I am also watching there 2 dogs. They both sleep in the bed with me.  One of the dogs is 90 pounds and likes to sleep were she wants.  Hailey and I got up early and went down to the farmers market. It opens at 7:30 and we were there when it opened. It was really a scorcher so we didn't stay long. The people showed up and it got even hotter.

We got some corn on the cob and a fresh tomato. So we went home and made BLT's and corn on the cob for lunch. Papa came over to eat with us. It stayed hot most of the day. Then late in the afternoon we got a couple showers and by supper time the temperatures and humidity was dropping. That is great news.

Sunday July 21- Slept better and the weather outside is awesome, almost cool. Hailey and I got dressed for church. We left a little early to stop and get some stuff for the birthday cake we are making today for her dad. On the way in I felt a big bug fly into my head. I have to admit I kind of went a bit crazy. Then Hailey spotted this locust on my jacket and she started screaming. That made me go more crazy and all the people walking in the store were giggling. Well I shook it off my jacket and went on in to get what we needed. Then we went on to church. It was a big day for Jeff. It was his very first time playing in the worship band. He had to get there early to go through the songs before service. We asked how it went. He said ok. Hailey and I both thought he did a great job. The worship was awesome as usual and the message was too. 

 

After church we met Papa at Bushwood for pizza. We had a nice lunch with lots of pizza to take home. Jeff went back to the campground and we went back to Hailey's house. We have a big project to do today. Hailey is making a birthday cake for her dad. His birthday is this Thursday but she wants to surprise him. Since we have already purchased everything we need, we are ready to go. First we had to mix up the batter. Hailey was all about this process. Then we baked the bakes, then let them cool. We had to cut the center out to make a surprise cake. We have reeses pieces to fill in the middle and to decorate with. We stacked the cakes, frosted them and filled the center with the candy. Then frosted the top and sides. Hailey then put on the decorations. She was so proud of her work....I got to clean up the mess. I guess that's what grammy's are for.

The finished product

That's all for this time, she can't wait for the party.